Frozen
by Sweet Lunacy
Summary: Okay, here it is: Sweeney didn't kill Mrs. Lovett, but not for lack of trying, and he finally meets his precious Johanna. How will this change our favourite demon barber?


**A/N: The songs are in italics. This was sort of inspired by Madonna's "Frozen". **

**Disclaimer: I will soon own Sweeney Todd...on DVD. Kidding, I own nothing except the soundtrack. If I did, Sweeney would never have killed Mrs. Lovett..They were meant to be together..Stupid Lucy, stupid Beadle Bamford, stupid Judge Turpin...coughs anyway, enjoy!!**

**Frozen**

Mrs. Lovett stared at him, more frightened than she had ever been in her life. He was staring down at the still form of the beggar woman, who he now recognized...Lucy.

"You lied to me." he whispered, blood glistening on his face.

She shook her head instinctively, then realized he wasn't looking in her direction.

_"No no, not lied at all. No, I never lied. .Said she took the poison, she did. Never said that she died, poor thing. She lived, but it left her weak in the head. All she did for months was just lie there in bed..should've been in hospital, wound up in Bedlam instead, poor thing. Better you should think she was dead...Yes, I lied, 'cause I love you. I'd be twice the wife she was, I love you. Could that thing have cared for you like me?"_

"Mrs. Lovett—"

He reached toward her, blade in hand, and she reeled backward, terrified by the maniacal gleam in his eyes.

"You're a bloody wonder..Eminently practical and yet, appropriate as always..." he continued.

She continued to back across the room, trying frantically to explain herself, knowing her life was on the line.

"Everything I did, I swear I thought it was only for the best...I—please, Mr. T!" she pleaded.

"Nothing to fear, my love." he assured her.

She didn't buy it. No matter what he said, the madness in his eyes did not fade. He grabbed her by the wrists and swung her around the room in a mad waltz, singing to her as they spun around the room. They whirled past the lifeless forms of Judge Turpin and Lucy Barker, whose wheat-coloured hair was spread around her like a halo. The blazing oven glided in and out of her view, and suddenly she understood.

She wrenched herself from his grasp, falling heavily to the floor. Her head nearly crashed onto the floor, and when she looked up, a shadow had fallen over her. She found herself staring into eyes filled with madness and hatred. He said not a word, and as she lay there, her heart pounding in her chest, he pulled out his razor from behind his back.

"Get up."

She didn't move. He reached down, pulled her to her feet and slammed her against the cold wall.

"Mr. T...please..Don't..I was only thinkin' of you. I swear it. Please." she begged, fear evident in her voice.

He held the blade to her throat, an icy silver coated in crimson blood, and she feared her own blood would soon coat the blade. He pressed the blade into her flesh, and a thin line of blood trickled from the cut. She whimpered, though whether from fear or pain, he didn't know.

"Tell me, my pet..Why do you deserve to live any more than they did? Give me one reason." he whispered dangerously.

"Please...I'll do anything, Mr. T. Anything, love. I swear.." she whimpered.

"Will you, now, love? Like what?"

"Anything. Anything you say, I'll do. Please..."

He pressed harder against the razor, and she felt the stream of blood thicken. She knew begging him was useless, but she had to try. If he truly wanted her to be dead, nothing she said or did was going to stop him, she knew that. The man she loved had become a madman who now held her life in his hands.

"All right. You've been warned: I may have spared your life, but believe me, by the time I'm through with you, pet, you'll be begging me for death." he murmured, his lips inches from her ear.

He ran his finger across the gash on her throat and she shuddered. He stepped back, admiring his latest work. The sewer grate opened, and Toby appeared, his head sticking out of the hole.

"Mum!" he cried, running toward her.

Sweeney Todd swung the razor in the boy's direction. Mrs. Lovett started to approach the boy, but froze in mid-step when the blade was turned on her.

"You..." he began.

"Johanna?"

He turned toward the door, walking slowly away from his victims.

"Stay here." he turned to Mrs. Lovett, pointing to her and Toby with his razor.

He raced out of the door, slamming it behind him, and Mrs. Lovett sank to the floor, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. Toby walked slowly toward her, as if afraid to get too close. He finally settled next to her, laying his head in her lap. She ran her hand over his head, reminding herself that at least she wasn't alone.

"Mum?" he said quietly.

"What is it, dear?"

"Are you all right?"

She nodded.

"I'll be all right, love. Mr. Todd is—angry..That's all. I had to bake those poor people, was a bit afraid of Mr. T., but it's all right now. Do you understand?"

He didn't, but he nodded anyway, not wanting to upset her more. She continued to stroke his hair, using it as a way to calm herself more than Toby.

"Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around." Toby sang.

"Nothing's gonna harm you, darling, not while I'm around." she joined in softly.

Mrs. Lovett jumped when she heard Todd's hand unlock the door. Toby took her hand in an attempt to calm her, but she found it only made her feel worse. The door opened slowly, and Mrs. Lovett looked anxiously at his face. His face had changed somehow..He looked more...human.

"What happened? Did you see 'er?"

He remained silent, his eyes staring blankly ahead.

"Mr. Todd?"

"I saw her...My beautiful Johanna...She looks just like Lucy."

She couldn't tell if he sounded angry or not. He approached her, and she shrank away from him, but when he touched her, his hand was surprisingly gentle.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"What?" she whispered.

"Did I hurt you? When I cut you?" he repeated.

"I was more afraid than anything, Mr. T."

She was lying. She was lying and he knew it. Instead of feeling angered by this, he actually admired the woman for her strength, but he wasn't sure why. After all, she annoyed him to the point of insanity (despite that fact that, he had already, in Mrs. Lovett's words "lost his marbles" and was "barking mad"..)

"—if you don't mind my saying so."

He hadn't even realized she had been speaking.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said, you only see what your eyes want to see..How can life be what you want it to be?"

He stared at her, not quite sure what she was implying. Not wanting to try and puzzle it out, he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her toward the door.

"Mum!" came Toby's frightened voice.

Sweeney turned to face the boy.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt her." he said softly.

Toby looked skeptical, and Mrs. Lovett offered her own words of comfort.

"I'll be fine, love. "

She tried to smile, but found it was more difficult than she had thought it would be. She didn't want to frighten the child more than he already was, and she had already bent the truth that night, but he adored her, after all, and she was terrified as it was. Sweeney pulled her through the door, and when he shut it and locked it behind him, she took a breath and prepared herself for the torture to come.

When he faced her, he found that she was more still than he had ever thought humanly possible. He took a step toward her, and she took a giant step back. He couldn't say he blamed her. He had, after all, tried to kill her. He supposed that would shake anyone up a bit.

"What are you gonna do?" she asked.

"I said I wouldn't hurt you."

She laughed, a high laugh on the verge of hysteria.

"You also said you loved me." she said quietly.

"I did? When?"

"Right after the business began picking up. Said you loved me, you did." she whispered.

She was a practical soul. He had to give her credit. Eminently practical and yet, appropriate, as always. A new feeling he hadn't experienced in years came rushing to him. He couldn't tell why it was, but he suddenly felt pity for poor Mrs. Lovett. Not many people would harbor a murderer under their roof, but she had taken him in, kept him safe, even helped him with his revenge. Yes, she had been with him every step of the way, whether he had wanted her or not.

"I won't hurt you. I mean it."

He did mean it. Something in his voice made her look up. Her eyes found his, brown met brown, and she saw something she had never expected to see: his eyes were covered with a shimmering veil of tears. He took another step near her, and this time she stayed where she was.

"You've said that once before, and I'm not quite sure I have any real reason to believe you, love." she said doubtfully.

A single tear slid down his face, smearing the now dried blood of his long sought victims. She took notice of this and suddenly felt guilty for doubting his word. She made her way toward the man she loved and yet was never sure of, and laid her hand gently on his shoulder. Surprisingly, he didn't pull away (not that he ever did) and she leaned down to whisper softly to him, her lips brushing against his sleeve.

"Mr. T...what's wrong, love?"

He shook his head, not sure what to say. After all, how could he tell her why he was crying when he didn't yet know himself? Nellie Lovett was strong, one of the strongest women he knew. She had been threatened, nearly killed, by the same man, and barely cried. And yet, she still loved him. After everything he had done, everything he had put her through, she had never stopped caring for him.

"Nellie."

"What did you call me?"

"Nellie." he repeated.

"You've never called me that."

"I'm...sorry."

"No..I—I don't mind, Mr. T." she whispered.

He turned to face her, and for the first time since he had returned, she saw a compassion there in his eyes that she never imagined she would see again. The last time she had seen that look, Lucy had been alive...But she would not think of that now. Thoughts of Lucy would only make her feel worse. She instead tried to puzzle out what could have possibly brought about change enough in him to put that look back in his eyes. Perhaps it was seeing his daughter, his precious Johanna. It was the only logical thing that could have changed him. She couldn't really say she minded. He turned from her, unlocked the door to the bakehouse, stepped inside, and Mrs. Lovett was left alone with her thoughts...

Toby listened anxiously at the door, praying Mr. Todd had been true to his word and not harmed her. Try as he might, he still could not see why she trusted him. He was a madman, and she still trusted him, loved him even. That, at least, he knew for certain. _Why_ she loved him though, was a mystery. Toby supposed that if she saw something good in him, he couldn't be _all_ bad. The lock clicked on the door, and it opened slowly, just enough for Mr. Todd to step through, which he did. Toby was able to see her for a brief second, standing completely still, her eyes following Mr. Todd, a strange expression in them.

Well, at least she was alive. To Toby, that was all that mattered. He shrank away as Mr. Todd approached him, but when he spoke, his voice held an emotion Toby had never heard before.

"Leave. Now. Say nothing of this night, nor any other night, to anyone. Understand?"

Toby nodded.

"Good. Now off with you."

Toby scrambled to the door, and was stopped just as his hand touched the handle.

"Not that way."

He tried quickly to explain.

"Please, sir. I just—can I say?"

Todd understood, and jerked his head in agreement. Toby wrenched open the door and flew to her, wrapping his small arms around her.

"Mum! You're alright!" he exclaimed.

She smiled thinly.

"Hush now, love. You have to get out. Do you understand?"

He nodded. She looked down at him, affectionately brushing his hair out of his eyes. He stared back at her, and she gave him the best smile she could manage.

"Go on now, love." she whispered.

"I'll miss you." he said softly.

"I'll miss you too, dear."

He ran back into the bakehouse, and opened the sewer grate. He took one last look at the people he considered his family before disappearing from sight. She walked slowly to him, stopping just behind him and put her hands on his shoulders, rubbing them gently. He appeared not to notice, so (as much as it pained her) she willed herself to stop. He turned to her.

"Why'd you stop?" he asked.

She simply stared at him.

"Why, I...didn't think you took any notice."

He smiled, and for once, she saw no revenge in his eyes. The smile that graced his face seemed genuine, and she smiled, in spite of herself. She began rubbing his shoulders again, and smiled to herself when she felt him relax under her touch.

"You know, love," she began, "We could have a life together, us two. We could find Toby and be a right proper family we could. I daresay you'd be a sight happier than you was with your Lucy. As I said, she never cared for you like I did."

He pulled away and swung toward her. His hand connected with her cheek, her head snapping back. When he looked at her, the hatred had returned to eyes.

"Don't you dare talk about Lucy like that.." he rasped, his hand closing around her throat.

"You...know...it's...true." she gasped.

She meant to shout, but the pressure on her throat made the words little more than a strangled whisper. He smiled when he heard the voice in the back of his mind telling him to tighten his hold until she stopped struggling and was completely still, but he felt his fingers loosen. She jerked away, taking deep breaths of air, her chest heaving.

"Why did you say that?"

He sounded hurt.

"Because it's true." came the weak voice of Mrs. Lovett, still gasping for air, "You act like your Lucy was an angel what never did no wrong. All she was was a silly little nit who couldn't handle living alone. Didn't even have enough sense to kill 'erself properly."

"How dare you?" he whispered dangerously.

"I don't know how I dare," she cried, continuing with a kind of reckless courage, "But I started, so I might as well finish. You walk around like your Lucy was some sort of saint, mad at the 'ole world, ignoring every other bloody emotion known to man, 'cept hatred and revenge. Don't think I didn't notice! You never noticed nothing about me, did you?"

She reached down, pulling out a chain from her dress. She fingered it gently, almost lovingly. It was only then that he noticed what it was she was turning over in her hands: there, dangling from the end of the chain, sparkling in the fire light, was a small ring. He recognized it immediately. He had given it to her years ago, a birthday present. It had actually been Lucy's idea to get her a gift, but he had been the one to actually give it to her. He had forgotten about it until then. He couldn't believe she had kept it so close to her all these years.

"Did I—" he began.

"Yes, you did."

"You kept it. After all these years."

She nodded, her eyes swimming with tears she refused to shed. She blinked, and a single tear made its way slowly down her face. He reached out, his fingers gently touching her face, wiping the tear away. She didn't pull away, but her eyes held a surprised emotion. Sweeney Todd himself seemed surprised that he had even dared do such a thing.

"Mr. T..." she whispered, unable to believe what was happening.

"Nellie.."

Her name didn't suit her, or at least, he thought it didn't. "Nellie" sounded like a small frightened child, whereas Mrs. Lovett was a strong, brave woman. Men older than she would have broken down, sobbing, begging him for mercy. Mrs. Lovett never once showed any sign of breaking. Men hardened by life in prison would have fallen apart if faced with the threats he had issued to her tonight, and she had barely flinched. She did, however, back away from him now, and he raised his eyebrows. She interpreted his body language correctly.

"Well, we can't just leave them lie here, love." she said.

Ah, yes. Leave it to Mrs. Lovett to think of the obvious. She was, as he said so often, practical, and it really did prove useful at times. He laughed softly, more to himself than Mrs. Lovett, but loudly enough she could still hear. She turned to him, a puzzled expression in her soft brown eyes.

He waved his hand, dismissing her as if he were a great king, moving to take the corpses to the oven, as he had often asked Mrs. Lovett to do. She scrambled to the bakehouse door, fighting back the urge to laugh, though she didn't know why. She supposed it had something to with utter insanity of this situation. Pulling the door open, she proceeded to walk out, pausing only to glance back at him once.

She heard footsteps thudding on the stairs, and looked up, startled. Toby came rushing in, a panicked expression on his face.

"Mum! There'sagirloutonthestreetswehavetohelp—"

"Toby...love, calm down. What are you going on about?"

"There's a girl out on the streets. We have to help her." he repeated slowly between gasps of air.

"What's wrong with her, dear?"

He glanced up at her, almost fearfully.

"She—she looks like she hasn't eaten in months. Please, mum. Can't we help her?"

Almost without thinking, Mrs. Lovett nodded. Toby dashed back up the stairs, Mrs. Lovett following slowly behind. When she stepped into her pie shop, she was greeted with a horrible sight. Standing in the doorway, trembling with fear and cold, was a small thin child of about Toby's age. Mrs. Lovett rushed to the poor girl, offering her a chance to step in by the fire before she could refuse.

As the young girl devoured the sad excuse of a meat pie, Mrs. Lovett asked her a series of questions.

"How old are you?"

"Eight." the girl replied.

"What's your name, child?"

"Alice." she whispered.

"Okay, Alice, do you have any other relatives?"

The girl shook her head.

"My sisters Helena, Morgan and Máiréad all died." she replied softly.

"Oh, dear. How did they die, love?"

"Dunno." was the answer.

Mrs. Lovett wasn't sure what to say next, so she chose to say nothing. They sat in silence, both trying to find some way to ease the tension in the room. The silence was soon broken by the sound of shoes ascending the stairs: Sweeney Todd. The door to the back room opened, and his form filled the doorway, still and unmoving. Mrs. Lovett glanced up, catching his eye, and miraculously, held his gaze. They stared at one another, barber and baker, brown eyes locked in place, the moment broken only when Mrs. Lovett became aware that she had been staring, and blinked, blushing slightly.

"Mr. Todd, this here is Alice. Toby found her wandering on the streets, so he brought 'er in and I fixed her up a pie." she said brightly, trying to hide her embarrassment.

He blinked, the only sign that he heard her. She was slightly disappointed, but knew she could expect no more of him, even after his sudden change. Rather than focus on his lack of response, she turned her attention back to the shivering child looking at her.

"Don't be afraid, dear. Nothing's gonna harm you."

As she said this, and the child approached her, Nellie Lovett was reminded of the song she and Toby had sung together. She had told him nothing would harm him as well, and now realized just how much she had come to adore the child. Already, in spite of herself, she could feel herself liking this child as well.

"She's right, Alice. Nothing will harm you. She won't let anything happen to you." Toby assured her, his trusting smile lighting up his face.

Mrs. Lovett felt a mixture of emotions at this. Part of her, the person she used to be, felt terrible because she knew she couldn't protect them from everything, least of all Sweeney Todd, while the darker side, the being she had become, changed by poverty and being near _**him**_, felt horribly amused at the child's willingness to trust. The one emotion shining brighter than any other, was her compassion. Despite everything she had endured over the years, she still clung to her compassion, the thing that made her spend long hours cleaning all evidence of the murders taking place under her roof, that made her spend hours awake at night, listening to the soft rhythmic pacing of the one man she loved, trying to will him to rest, all in vain.

Now that the child had been taken care of, Mrs. Lovett was finally able to examine her properly. The child was small, her frail body swimming in her dress, with large gray eyes. Her black hair fell to her shoulders, straight and thick, shining despite the hardships she had surely endured. Mrs. Lovett saw a shadow of her former self in this bright eyed child and felt a wave of sadness wash over her. Toby's eyes were following her every movement, so she made her way to the table to hand the girl a glass of gin. After all, it helped Toby sleep, and it might take some of the trembling out of her. Mrs. Lovett really saw no harm in it, so she pulled a glass from the self and set it down with a small _clink_, followed by the nearly-empty bottle of gin. She poured the drink and handed the glass to the child, smiling as she did so.

"Thank you, ma'am." she whispered.

"You're welcome, dear."

Only after getting the child settled in for the night, did Mrs. Lovett make her way to the barber shop. She hadn't seen Mr. Todd in hours, nor had she heard him pacing, so she knew something else could have possibly changed, and prayed he hadn't slit his own throat. She opened the door and found him sitting in the faded chair, his eyes closed. Unable to tell if he was asleep, she slipped off her shoes and began to quietly cross the room .

"Mr. T?"

She couldn't tell if he heard her, and, not wanting to disturb him further, she turned to leave.

"Mrs. Lovett?"

She turned.

"Yes? What is it, love?"

"I'm cold."

The words were little more than a whisper, and Mrs. Lovett wasn't sure of how to respond.

"Well, no wonder. You've been up here with nothing more than the clothes what you were already wearing."

He reached his hand out to her, almost as if he were pleading with her to come nearer. She walked toward him, and took his hand.

"Stay with me." he whispered.

She couldn't hide her shock, and he nearly laughed, but knew better.

"Now, Mr. T..."

"Please?"

She looked into his eyes and saw not the revenge and hatred she expected, but the pain of someone who has lost everything and has nowhere to turn. He shifted on the chair, motioning for her to sit beside him. Hesitating a fraction of a second, she sat on the chair and nearly fainted when he wrapped his arms around her. He was tired, she could sense it.

"You need to sleep, love." she said, her voice muffled by his chest.

"Mmm," was his only reply.

Already, she could feel herself getting drowsy, and fought to stay awake, never wanting the moment to end. Slowly, she closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. He smiled and silently thanked God that she couldn't see him. He moved one of his hands from around her and began playing absentmindedly with a strand of her hair.

"Good night, Mr. T.." she whispered, drifting off at last.

He flicked open the razor in his hand and brought it up to her throat, smiling once more.

"Good night, Mrs. Lovett."

**A/N: Review please? I'll give you a meat pie..If you want one, that is. If not, you can just spend the day with Sweeney, Mrs. Lovett and Toby. I'm thinking about writing a sequel featuring more of Alice...I don't know though, what do you think? (Wow, Mrs. Lovett moment, lol)**


End file.
